Films That Defined A Decade
Films That Defined A Decade
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#1Films That Defined A Decade
Posted: 11/19/14 at 10:04am
If you could choose one or two films that really defined the decade they were in, what would they be?
I think St. Elmo's Fire really defined the 1980s.
I think Breakfast at Tiffany's set the tone for the early 1960s.
#2Films That Defined A Decade
Posted: 11/19/14 at 10:56amI would add Working Girl for the 80s.
After Eight
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/09
#2Films That Defined A Decade
Posted: 11/19/14 at 11:07am
The Best Years of Our Lives- 1940s
All That Heaven Allows- 1950s
Pillow Talk- early 1960s
AEA AGMA SM
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/13/09
#3Films That Defined A Decade
Posted: 11/19/14 at 6:48pmWhen talking about the 80s I think you can't discount the John Hughes/Molly Ringwald trilogy: 16 Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Pretty in Pink.
#4Films That Defined A Decade
Posted: 11/19/14 at 8:23pmThe Graduate and Easy Rider defined the latter half of the 1960s
Platypus
Featured Actor Joined: 11/13/07
AEA AGMA SM
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/13/09
#6Films That Defined A Decade
Posted: 11/19/14 at 9:37pmDazed and Confused may have defined what 90s kids thought the 70s were like, but since it was released in 1993 I doubt that it impacted the 1970s at all.
#7Films That Defined A Decade
Posted: 11/20/14 at 7:05amWell I think the same argument could be made about American Graffiti and the 70s/50s.
#8Films That Defined A Decade
Posted: 11/20/14 at 7:46amSo, while tentpole animation, comic book adaptation and adventure films make more money than ever, it seems like film is no longer at the center of popular culture. TV seems to have supplanted it. I've seen many fine films in the 2000s, but I have a hard time believing any of them will, as you say, define their decade. Thoughts?
ArtMan
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/10/08
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#10Films That Defined A Decade
Posted: 11/20/14 at 9:19am
"So, while tentpole animation, comic book adaptation and adventure films make more money than ever, it seems like film is no longer at the center of popular culture. TV seems to have supplanted it."
I rarely go to the movies anymore for a couple of reasons. The price has become out of control. I don't want to pay a high price for a mediocre movie or for something Meryl Streep is in. In addition, the people in movie theaters these days seem to go only to bother the people who are actually trying to watch the movie.
Mr Roxy
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
#12Films That Defined A Decade
Posted: 11/20/14 at 12:16pm
60's - Easy Rider
70's - Network
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
The Godfather
Fantod
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/3/14
#13Films That Defined A Decade
Posted: 11/20/14 at 1:15pm
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - 30's
Citizen Kane - 40's
All About Eve - 50's
Dr. Strangelove - 60's
Apocalypse Now - 70's
The Breakfast Club - 80's
Pulp Fiction - 90's
Harry Potter - 00's (books defined two decades)
Updated On: 11/20/14 at 01:15 PM
#15Films That Defined A Decade
Posted: 11/20/14 at 1:36pm
I LOOVE All That Heaven Allows!!
'90s - Clueless
'00-'09 - Maybe the Nolan Batman trilogy?
And I like how Goth dismisses Meryl, like she hasn't accomplished anything in her career. Love her or hate her, you can't deny that she is the next Bette Davis. Just like there are film history classes devoted to Ms. Davis, there will be classes devoted to the work of STreep.
I only wish the two could've worked together.
#16Films That Defined A Decade
Posted: 11/20/14 at 1:51pmI think Mean Girls did a pretty great job defining teen culture in the 2000s.
#17Films That Defined A Decade
Posted: 11/20/14 at 2:07pm
The Breakfast Club - 80's
This.
And personally, I might lean towards The Deer Hunter over Apocalypse Now for the 70s, but Network is also an excellent choice.
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#18Films That Defined A Decade
Posted: 11/20/14 at 2:31pm
"And I like how Goth dismisses Meryl, like she hasn't accomplished anything in her career."
I don't deny she has had an amazing career. I'm just tired of seeing her and her ham-fisted acting in every movie. And your comparison to Bette Davis is apt. She was a personality actress who got work for personality rather than being able to lose herself in a character.
#19Films That Defined A Decade
Posted: 11/20/14 at 2:35pmWhat do you mean by "Defined a Decade"? It's such a broad question and the films posted here are all great films that had an impact, but did they "define" the decade? I can find a dozen other great films from each decade that had great impacts in different areas. So what exactly does "define" mean here?
Luscious
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/20/05
#21Films That Defined A Decade
Posted: 11/20/14 at 3:09pm
1920s: The Jazz Singer, The Sheik
1930s: It Happened One Night, Gone With the Wind
1940s: Mrs. Miniver, The Best Years of Our Lives
1950s: Blackboard Jungle, Rebel Without a Cause
1960s: 2001, The Graduate
1970s: The Godfather, Annie Hall
1980s: The Breakfast Club, Do the Right Thing
1990s: American Beauty, Pulp Fiction
2000s: The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter (yes, they're both a series)
2010s: Inception, The Social Network
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
#22Films That Defined A Decade
Posted: 11/20/14 at 4:24pm
^ Great choices of films, Bestie, but you lost me at the 2000s and 2010s. Not that I don't enjoy some of the Rings and Potter films, but I'm at a loss connecting them to the decades in which they were made.
For the 2000's I might propose THE HURT LOCKER and UP IN THE AIR. Both films speak to the sense of dislocation wrought by the greatest calamities of the decade.
Jury is out on the 2010's since we're only 4 years into the decade-- don't have a clue what film will have meaning when our present decade ends.
Updated On: 11/20/14 at 04:24 PM
#23Films That Defined A Decade
Posted: 11/20/14 at 4:37pm
As a tribute to the passing of Mike Nichols, how many of the last 5 decades could be summed up brilliantly by films made by the esteemed Mr. Nichols?
60s: The Graduate, Catch-22
70's: Carnal Knowledge, Silkwood (made in '83)
80's: Working Girl, Angels in America (made in '03)
90's: Primary Colors, Wit (made in '01)
A man with his hand on the country's zeitgeist again and again.
Updated On: 11/20/14 at 04:37 PM
#24Films That Defined A Decade
Posted: 11/20/14 at 4:40pm
I have to confess, I think the 2000s is one of the bleakest decades in film history. With very, very few exceptions.
I absolutely detest The Hurt Locker, and Up In the Air is ordinary.
Other hideous choices for Best Picture in that decade: Slumdog Millionaire (trivial) and No Country for Old Men (boring except for Bardem).
Lame.
I think the two fantasy series films I listed define the decade for different reasons. Potter was/is a cultural phenomenon, both the books and the films. Rings mixed blood, guts, and war, with a fairy tale, and film and TV haven't been the same since. They were both an escape from reality, which people were clearly craving in the 2000s.
blocked: logan2, Diamonds3, Hamilton22
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